Editorial Review: Blank Face LP - @ScHoolBoyQ

Since Oxymoron, the announcement of Blank Face LP, and an amazing trailer I've been excited about this release. ScHoolBoy Q has grown and polished his sound. The trailer sets up like for a short film or movie. Question, did he entertain us in the theater? Is the follow up to Oxymoron going to hold enough water? Let's get to it.

The story begins with TorcH. Although not on the tracklist, it features recent XXL Freshman, Anderson .Paak. We'll hear more about him later. Lord Have Mercy is as it sounds. It's a prayer asking for forgiveness sharing his soul in being a rapper, gangster, father, son, and everything that makes Quincy himself. Swizz Beatz adds his signature sound and vocals throughout. Although an amazing producer, I've never liked his sound. It always sounds like there's way too much going on and I could say the same with this track as well. The lead single, THat Part grew on me like I predicted. I still don't like Kanye's verse. I don't know what it is but he's really been struggling recently with his flow. His first bar is trash, flat out. "Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, OKAY!" Sounds like my silly attempts at rapping in forth grade. I'm curious on why the Black Hippy Remix didn't make the final cut, but oh well. It's not all bad & I really like the beat. It's West Coast G-Funk meets modernity. The beat changes like how it does in Mercy and a lot of other G.O.O.D Music productions. Then Kanye freestyles again in the end and it sounds silly, if anyone else recorded that they'd consider it an outtake and never leave it in. Maybe it's arrogance, maybe it's art but I'm not feeling it.

Hip-Hop is unique because the rappers are the reporters of their time and era. Groovy Tony is Q's journalistic report of the hood sh*t goes through on a daily. Jadakiss takes it from the 323 to Yonkers and tells his New York tale. This track is a two part combined with Eddie Kane. Same BPM but different beat makes for an awesome audio crossfade. Ali mixed the hell out of this project and it shows. I also love the choral vocals in the back of the second verse.

Know Ya Wrong features TDE's most recent signee, Lance Skiiiwalker whom we heard a lot from on Jay Rock's last project. Most of the tracks on the project do duel sided sounds and production. This is the same. Ride Out is one of my favorites. It really speaks to the crip in all of us and even features Vince Staples. Gritty, gangsta, everything you'd expect from this song just reading the tracklist cuz.

WHatever You Want with Candice Pillay takes an unusual dance, EDM feel. It's definitely the most pop sounding song on the project. Not really much cup of tea but someone will drink it. By Any Means changes back to a darker mood. Although not listed in the tracklist or producer credits it sounds like Isaiah Rashaad and Kendrick lent their talents to sing background. I really like the bounce in this. Q gonna do what he needs to do by any means. 

"Get yours, get yours get yours, by any means. you can f*ck my b*tch you can have my heaux."  

Dope Dealer features west coast OG E-40 and is produced by Metro Boomin. Doesn't sound like anything he's ever made before. It's as if he left Atlanta trap to west coast funk and it's clearly catered and crafted for the Cali duo. JoHn Muir and Big Body with Tha Dogg Pound gives ScHoolboy a chance to show off his emcee flows on a more core hip-hop sound. Big Body was produced by Tyler the Creator and has the quirky sound you'd expect from him. Neva CHange is another fan favorite for me. SZA comes in assisting with vocals on the hook and DJ Dahi flatters us with simplicity over the beat and mix.

Str8 Ballin pays homage to 2Pac's THug life and All Eyez on Me. This is the climactic part of the album where we really really see the most of Q. Black THougHts is where Quincy addresses the black community in what's wrong. This song has the most content and holds the most sentimental value to me. That's to be expected when Kendrick, Q, George Clinton and Terrace Martin get together. I would have loved to hear a verse from Ab-Soul here. I think he would have something awesome to say here, even if it's a wild conspiracy theory. I side-eyed the "All Lives Matter" line until I realized he was talking about the unity of Bloods and Crips. Anderson .Paak returns like he never left in the self-titled track. It almost serves as a remix to TorcH. Miguel and Justine Skye join forces with Q on Overtime. The mood is slow and calm and I recommend the thugs to compromise and add this to their playlist for their shorty, she'll appreciate it. Overtime is to Blank Face as Studio with BJ the Chicago Kid is to Oxymoron. Blank Face concludes with piano keys and 16's from Traffic, TF, and Q on Tookie Knows II. 

Blank Face is one of the more musical rap albums I've heard recently. The production uses a lot of instruments over artificial synthesizers and other electronically produced sounds. I think this will make his live sets awesome. It will sound like a more intimate experience than a studio crafted listen. I don't know if this was the plan but it seems like every member of Black Hippy is dropping albums kind of telling their Day in the Life or Coming of Age kind of story. Good Kid Maad City, 90059, These Days and now Blank Face are all their perspective Californication Chronicle from different parts of the Los Angeles county area. Ride Out, By Any Means,Neva CHange, Black THoughts, and Overtime will be in rotation for a long time for me. Blank Face LP gets a 4.25 of 5 Stars on the Ramsey Rating Scale. Listen to Blank Face after the break.

@KendrickLamar's #TPAB Review by @Best_ofda_Worst

We all know what Kendrick Lamar is capable of as an artist. I am going to start by saying this: I do not think this album is better than Good Kid MAAD City. That’s the only negative thing I can say about this album. Now that that’s out the way its time to give my feedback on what I like about To Pimp A Butterfly.

I knew I was going to love this album from the moment the beat dropped on track one, Wesley’s Theory. With a feature from George Clinton & Thundercat , this album wasted no time drawing you in with a spellbinding instrumental and equally hypnotizing hook this song is easily one of my favorites on the album. Following up is an interlude/poem called For Free.  The piece is about a man who’s been through too much to continue doing things as favors to people. This is a great set up to King Kunta. Me and Niles touched base on the track here. In addition I feel like Kendrick was channeling his inner Pac with how aggressive he approached in the track.

Let's fast forward a few songs to track six titled U. It hits of close to home for me. The first words are "Loving U is complicated." You feel hurt, guilt and failure to meet the standards and expectations we give ourselves. Sometimes we even feel as though we let family and friends down. That depressing inner demon won't let you forget all the negatives about you. I’d like to imagine Kendrick was looking into a mirror in a hotel room by himself when the concept of this song came to mind. Anyone who's ever internally battled themselves probably fought back a tear or two listening to U. I say this because I've personally come from the same place this song portrays. The only way out of this feeling is to face yourself and believe that all the good about you will come. That leads to a perfect transition into his next song, Alright.

U is great but I'd rather not remember the feeling that comes attached with it (haha). Alright serves as a great pick-me-up from the last depressing a** song. The next track contains the only "real" feature (person with a verse) in Rapsody. The song is titled Complexion. Here she steals this track as her verse is soulful and fits right along with the central theme of the album (poetic blackness). It was pretty tight, and each time I hear it I get more excited to here her voice than Kendrick's. Looking forward I'm excited to hear more from the North Carolina spitter in the near future. The album version of I is better than the single. It's the second deepest track on the whole album. I'd rather not give away too much so listen after the break.

 

The album closes off with Mortal Man. If you haven't heard it already I'll tell you, it's the deepest track on the album. Jonathan breaks down the track here. I serves as a great closing and a tremendous finale to this poetic album we call To Pimp a Butterfly. As Wesley’s Theory drew you in, track after track opened to a new piece of the ongoing poem presented throughout the album. Mortal Man finalizes the poem and puts it all together. You actually find out that the album was really just a conversation between K. Dot and Tupac! After little exchange of question and answer he ends the conversation with one more poem. It leaves the listeners wanting more like "This can't seriously be it. Pac got to have more to say! Kendrick got to have another song! 


I always felt like I knew Kendrick as if he were a personal friend of mine. That's the feeling GKMC gave me. I felt like I was in the van with him or maybe Compton and Rosecrans was a block in my city where I used to hang out. This album made me relate to Kendrick on a more emotional level, I'm glad it happened that way. My favorite tracks were Wesley's Theory, King Kunta, U, Alright  Hood Politics, and How Much a Dollar Cost. It's been so long since I could relate to music in such a way. I don't want to call this album a classic yet because of it's youth and early stages. However I can say I'm happy with this purchase. If you haven't already go grab this album. It's a great buy.

To Pimp a Butterfly - @Kendrick Lamar album review by @Niles_C

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.